Anyone who's seen Kenny Rogers, Burt Reynolds, or Cher recently is extremely aware of the drawbacks of plastic surgery. You have to wonder why anyone would have work done when the possibility exists one could end up in full color on the cover of National Enquirer looking like a junior Frankenstein experiment.

Yet, people not only are still willing to agree to such procedures, they pay medical professionals for the privilege. Maybe, it is the fear of growing old in a place where so much emphasis is placed on being young. Maybe it is the hope that your experience will be different; the same thinking that sells lottery tickets and keeps Paris Hilton with available suitors.

And just maybe the success rate is much better than we think.

If there are legions of good doctors working today, and the anonymous success rate keeps them in Bentleys and return customers, everyone is happy. Still, the growth of this industry is one of the great mysteries of our time. Not that long ago the idea was unthinkable. Today, it is a common, accepted practice.

Even so, the recent success of a segment of the cosmetic enhancement business defies explanation, even for California. People are paying good money to have plastic surgery performed on dead relatives so they will look good for the funeral. Really.

Muslims and Jews don't allow for embalming in their religious practices, but Christians do, and something like 70 percent of them include viewing the body as part of the funeralizing.

My grandfather was responsible for preparing corpses in his time. He cleaned the dead, dressed them in chosen outfits, and sometimes cut their hair. Today, morticians are capable of rearranging facial expressions, adding or removing weight, and even obliterating wrinkles.

Making those folks who died from trauma or an extended illness look as they did before becoming sick requires special talent. A lot of the tricks originally used by morticians were the inspiration for some of today's accepted practices on live humans; things like botox.

And as we have become used to such procedures and accept the vanity associated with these attitudes, people are progressing toward having that last little bit of enhancement to prepare for the long road home.

More and more still alive people are telling kinfolks, lawyers, and even morticians they want a little bosom adjustment, wrinkle removal, and strategic nips and tucks just to be a good looking corpse.

While this seems harmless, you have to wonder how much care is being taken to assure good quality work. People will definitely worry about results when picking a doctor for themselves, but how much thought goes into finding someone whose final product will be buried right after the ceremony. It gives a whole new meaning to honoring Mom's wishes.

No longer will parents worry about their children picking out the right retirement home. In the future we will worry about them picking a competent plastic surgeon.